Everyone loves being right; however, in this case, it means more intrusion into our children’s lives so I’m not doing an “I told ya so,” dance. In February 2015 I wrote an article about the Opt Out movement (read it here). In short, education planners are actually wanting different assessments and different ways of obtaining the measurement of “growth.” Opting out of testing may actually push us closer to these creepy new tests. Rewriting NCLB, including the language about assessments, leaves it wide open to implement these new assessments into the classrooms.

If you’ve been paying attention then you have seen that Obama has now put a “cap” on the amount of hours that children can spend on standardized testing in the classroom. It seems an abrupt about-face from an administration that was doubling down on high stakes testing with the Common Core–but it’s actually not that big of a change.

According to this article, “The administration will encourage states to cap standardized testing time to 2 percent of classroom time — 21.6 hours for a typical NYC school child. That shaves just a sliver off the 20 to 25 hours that kids already spend taking the tests, according to the study by the Council of the Great City Schools, which includes New York. And it doesn’t deal at all with the weeks and months that teachers spend prepping their kids.”

I watched a painful video put out by the White House in which a (barely awake) president discussed how testing can be intrusive and how we need an “all around look” at our kids’ education. In addition to using tests to measure, Obama said they will also be using surveys and other means.

And there’s the word to watch out for: Surveys. I’m sure you’re aware that surveys are almost always personal and behavioral in nature and will be added to the dossier the government is building on our children.

You might be wondering what this has to do with the new classroom assessments that will be put into place eventually. Well, frankly, this is just a small step in the direction of doing just that. This is something that has to happen to make it look like the eventual abolition of most major high stakes testing was a process and not a preconceived idea and outcome.

It’s the old, “create the problem, then create the ‘solution’ to the problem,” and have everyone cheering you on for finding respite for their children.

It’s important not to forget, though…THEY CREATED THE PROBLEM AND THEIR SOLUTION WILL BE MORE DAMAGING FOR AMERICAN CHILDREN IN THE FUTURE.

About the Author

Oregon PolitiChick Macey France is co-founder of the Stop Common Core in Oregon and is working with parents across the state to educate and help them to learn how to advocate for their children's education. Macey has spoken at many Common Core informational meetings across the state of Oregon.
Macey's articles on Common Core have been picked up by various news outlets and she has been a guest on many radio shows across the nation. Macey's article about The Bluest Eye was featured on a panel on Al Jazeera America and was nominated for a CPAC Blogger Award for Best Sunlight Post of 2013.
Macey is a strong conservative with libertarian leanings, making her more of a "conservatarian." Preserving the constitutional and moral values of that this great nation was founded on for her children is her priority. She is a stay at home mom of two boys who are now in elementary school. As a mom who has always been interested in politics, religion and all of the taboo subjects, she has always had a lot to say about the state of the nation. When she realized the Common Core Standards were not only bad news for children but a government coup over education, she decided to fight back and is now considered one of the nation's leading experts on all-things-Common Core.
When she's not having uncomfortable arguments with strangers on Facebook she can be found spending time with her husband of 15 years and two sons. Find Macey France on Facebook and Twitter: @MaceyFrancePC

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